Hey guys, Did a blog this week on different winter shelter survival options and the steps to creating them. I also speak a little bit about prioritizing during survival situations and other small facts. Please let me know what you think. I am super open to criticism and would love some advice from some hardcore survivalists. Winter Survival: Building a Shelter Thanks!
I'm new here to the site, but I've been at it a long time. I added a short comment concerning location of a shelter not being under a tree but there are a lot of other places to avoid as well. A particular material I recommend for out door survival is boat shrink wrap. It is by far the most tenacious versatile fabric on the planet and lasts for many years, welds to it's self with heat, and is water proof . It slides on the snow fact is snow does not stick to it at all. One could use it for skinning a make shift boat. Most boat shops that do winter storage, cary this material, and it is usually very reasonable. any size you want. In snow season I cary a colapsable snow shovel , it is more effecient than any other means working with snow. Plastic is OK, but aluminum is better, and steel is even better, stainless would be best. I realize it's heavier but you can build a fire in it if you have to. I've even used it for scraping tree bark going for dry wood to burn. one could conceivably cook in it as well. Oh ya , if they don't make it , I make it for my self.
The most important fact in that article is one most people don't have a clue about: Lose 3.6 degrees F. from your core temperature and you will probably die. Once hypothermia sets in, survival becomes a matter of luck because your ability to insure survival by appropriate actions is quickly lost. @arleigh makes a VERY important point: Don't go into snow country without a snow shovel. Store-bought or expedient, the ability to move a few cubic feet of snow fairly quickly and without freezing your hands off can be the difference between life and death. When playing in the snow, voluntarily or otherwise, the first rule is to never get cold. Be dressed and equipped and appropriately skilled. Tough people and lucky people can sometimes survive even extreme cold. Smart people never get cold. Of course, anyone can get caught short by bad luck and unfortunate circumstances--but it's a useful mindset. Humans are as delicate as hot-house orchids. We're not designed to survive in less than a warm environment. People manage to die of hypothermia in Florida simply because they underestimate the danger of sleeping chilly. It doesn't take ice to freeze to death: just 3.6 degrees F. off the core temp--to start. (@arleigh: Great info about the boat shrink wrap, too: Gotta get me some of that!) @velit_survival: A technical suggestion. Make pit bed in the snow in one of the protected shelters, and a bed directly on the snow in the same relative position to the fire. Put two gallon jugs of body-temp or warmer water to bed, and check their temperatures hourly. Which stays the warmest hour by hour? The answer, over four hours, might surprise you, but having the numbers will verify the advice you offer. And calibrate its relative efficiency,
That's a great idea @UncleMorgan. We are actually planning on doing a short video showing the steps to building the shelter and I think we will take your suggest and use the gallon jugs as a measure of temperature. Thanks for the tip! @arleigh, is the shrink wrap easily transported? I know it comes in rolls but if you cut off a long piece of it, does it stay nice and tight or unravel and go all over the place?
